


The Audition

by merlin07



Category: David Tennant - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 06:59:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6646873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlin07/pseuds/merlin07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to The Return</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

As he walked out of the BBC Radio 4 studios David’s mobile started to ring, after a quick pocket search he found it and before he could say a word his agent chirped, “guess what? I got you an audition for a major Hollywood movie.”

“Great!” David replied a big smile on his face, “what’s the role?”

His agent was quiet for a bit, making David wonder if the connection had been dropped, “I can’t remember,” he finally answered, his voice slightly puzzled.

“OK, what’s the movie?” he prompted, his smile fading a bit.

“I don’t recall,” his agent admitted, “that’s odd…”

“Do you happen to remember where or when this audition is?” David sighed.

“That I do remember!” his agent almost shouted, startling the actor almost making him drop the phone, “I’ll email you the details!”

When he got home and logged into his email David looked at the lines of dialog for the audition with a wince, it seemed a bit hokey. But out of context it was hard to really get a good feel for it. 

He printed it off and read the first lines aloud, “I can’t believe you finally caught me! I now see that you are smarter than me. But you will never get away with this.” 

He read the email a bit further, no stage direction, no hint as to the character of the role, nothing. Not much time to practice the lines either, what with the audition being the next day.

Maybe it’s a Western? He wondered reading the rest of the dialog, hopefully not too much horseback riding if it was, he didn’t relish the idea of breaking out in hives again. 

Still holding the print out in his hand David walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of tea. As he sipped the brew, he read the lines again. The dialog seemed to be a collection of old movie clichés, it read like someone who spent far too much time in their mother’s cellar studying Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson instead of living in the real world. 

Perhaps it is a comedy? He finally consoled himself with that; it made a lot more sense. A spoof, well, he could live with that, even if it was a small role it could be fun! As he went to bed that night he reminded himself of the Milan Kundera quote, “There are no small parts. Only small actors.”

The next morning David arrived at the audition, there was no one at the reception desk and the building seemed deserted. He checked the details from the email again, walked outside to check the address and then spotting a bell on the desk rang it a few times.

A few minutes later a woman with shocking pink hair, bright red fingernails and wearing a conservative suit, appeared out of nowhere.

“So glad you could come,” she intoned her voice curiously lifeless, “we are honoured you are gracing us with your presence.” With that she pulled him to her chest almost violently, wrapping her arms around him for a hug and rising on her tiptoes kissed him on each cheek.

“Um…thanks?” David replied, a bit taken aback by the overly enthusiastic greeting. 

He waited a beat before extracting himself from the woman’s embrace. As he pulled back he noticed she had a strange vacant look on her face and yet, at the same time, her eyes were scanning him like he was a pure bred dog at some kennel show. Holding back a giggle at the thought of her reaching up to pull back his lips to see his teeth, David followed her into a small waiting room.

As soon as he was settled the woman excused herself and left the room via a door off to one side. As David looked at the lines of dialog again, trying to get some vibe from them but a niggling voice in his head kept urging him to leave and leave immediately.

“Nerves,” he laughed at himself, “you’ve been on worse auditions. Get a grip!”

The woman reappeared and thrust a cup of coffee into his hands without a word. She started to leave the room again but stopped mid-stride and turned back. 

“We’re almost ready for you,” she addressed a spot somewhere over his head and then left him alone again.

David looked at the retreating woman and at the cup of coffee that she had given him for a few minutes in silence. Then he set the cup down on the chair next to him, untouched. He rose to his feet, having decided he had hit his weirdness quotient for the day and maybe it was time to listen to that voice and get the hell out of there.

He was just about to the door when the pink haired woman, accompanied by a rather dour looking older man, stepped into the room. The woman linked her arm in his and the man blocked David’s exit.

The man smiled at David, his eyes completely lifeless, “So glad you could come. We are honoured you are gracing us with your presence,” he droned, “come with us now.” 

With that he took a few strides towards the actor, David stepped back involuntarily before catching himself. The man took his other arm in a firm grip, and David caught the two of them exchanging glances.  At first he didn’t move when they started to walk, pulling at his arms and half dragging him along. Then taking a deep breath he steadied his nerves and let himself be herded into the audition room.


	2. Chapter 2

The door to the audition room opened on its own, which given the rest of his experience so far didn’t really faze David that much. He half expected someone to pop out from behind a hidden camera and tell him this was all some sort of prank but he soon found himself standing in front of a table of individuals who didn’t appear to have much of a sense of humour.

The people seated at the long table looked like something out of central casting. A harried casting director, an earnest looking P.A., and someone he guessed was from the legal end of things judging by his smart suit and slicked back hair. The only thing they seemed to have in common was that oddly blank look on their faces. His two escorts soon completed the collection. After a few awkward they all raised their eyes to him expectantly. 

The director broke the silence, “ready when you are,” he prompted sounding like he was reading from an autocue.

David looked around the room for a camera or an audio recorder, “are you going to record this?”

Everyone at the table exchanged quick glances, then the director nodded pulling a small hand held camera out of his pocket jacket pocket hastily, and pointed it at David, “ready when you are,” he repeated.

“You might want to remove the lens cap or at the very least turn it on,” David advised, pointing at the camera.

The casting director turned the device around and managed to get the lens cap off but seemed to be perplexed by the various buttons. David watched him fumble around a bit, not wanting to come off as a know-it-all but finally he spoke up, “It’s the red button,” he gestured the motion of holding it down, “that’s the on switch.”

Hearing the camera power up, David unfolded the paper with the dialog on it giving it one last look. He waited for someone to give him some direction or some insight into the character but after nothing came he decided to just get it over with. He placed the paper on the floor he stood on the mark and said the lines.

His performance was met with complete silence; the casting director just lowered the camera and turned it off. Then without another word everyone stood up and filed out of the room.

“I guess that means, ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you,’” David declared to the empty row of chairs. 

Just as well, he thought this had been the strangest audition he had ever had and he was really glad to have it over with. He made to leave but realised that he couldn’t really see where the door actually was. The faux wood panelling seemed to have no breaks in it, no hinges or knobs to indicate where a door would be and it finally hit him the room had no windows either.

He fished his mobile out of his pocket but the phone registered no signal and just beeped at him when he tried to place a call anyway.

He was just on the verge of panic when the pink haired woman returned to the room. Before she shut the door he made a special point to memorise where it was in case he was left alone again. Without preamble she thrust an envelope into his hands and said, “we’ll be in touch.” Then turned and walked away. 

Not wanting to be locked in again, David followed her out and just got through the doorway before the door clicked shut. She didn’t look back at him but picked up her pace and soon disappeared down a darkened corridor.

As soon as he was safely out of the building he rang his agent, “I don’t want to question your good judgement, but what the hell was that all about?” he asked after the exchange of pleasantries was over.

“I didn’t send you on any audition. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“But you did! You rang me yesterday evening and you even sent me the details and lines via email,” David insisted.

“You got an email from me?” his agent replied, “yesterday evening?”

“Yes.”

“That is completely impossible,” the agent protested, “my laptop and my mobile were stolen yesterday afternoon. Someone broke into my office when I was at lunch. I was at the police station until half past nine last night. I don’t know if the break in has anything to do with your experience this morning but just in case you may want to be a bit more careful in the future. There are some right nutters out there.”

Knowing he should just chalk this up as experience and let it go, didn’t prevent David from returning to the building that he had recently been very relieved to escape. This time the door was locked and a very large “For Let” sign was in the front window.

It wasn’t until he had gotten safely home that David remembered the envelope the pink haired woman had given him. He pulled it from his jacket pocket, noting that there was nothing written on it. He held it up to the light to see if he could figure out the contents before opening it but the envelope was too thick for that. He set it down on the kitchen table, debating whether he should open it or just throw it away.

As he reached for it, his decision made, the fob watch he had gotten in Los Angeles months before started vibrating in his jeans pocket. He was not quite sure where he had gotten it but since returning to London he had it with him always, feeling almost naked without it.

Vibrating, though, was a new trick. Most of the time it did nothing. It didn’t even seem to work, he couldn’t get the clasp to open and it didn’t seem to tick when he held it up to his ear. Slipping his hand into his pocket he wrapped his fingers around the watch and it stopped moving immediately. 

Thinking he had managed to jar the watch somehow David shrugged and reached for the envelope again, he carefully opened it and pulled out a single sheet of paper. There were just three words printed on it, “trust no one.” He turned the paper over looking for more, but that was it. 

After reading the words over and over, he balled up the piece of paper and lobbed it in the general direction of the kitchen’s rubbish bin. Determined to not let it ruin his day he put it out of his mind and got ready to meet friends for lunch.


	3. Chapter 3

In fact by the end of the day David had completely put the whole audition out of his mind. The note was totally forgotten until he went to go to bed. He had climbed under the covers, lying on his side and slipped one hand under the pillow. As he did this his fingers brushed against a bit of paper.

He sat up and turned on the light, grabbing his glasses from the bed stand then carefully pulled out the note. 

He read it aloud, “trust no one” and then looked around the room, a bit puzzled. He remembered balling it up and tossing it at the rubbish bin, so how did it get in here? He wondered.

David got out of bed and double checked that all the doors were locked, and made sure all the windows were fastened down. He paced around the house holding the note in his hand, quickly running the gamut of emotions from fear to anger, someone was toying with him and this had to stop!

Digging around in the kitchen drawers David found some matches and placing the note in a metal bowl lit in on fire. He waited until it was reduced to ash before dumping it down the sink, washing it down the drain.

Willing himself to calm down he poured a glass of milk and stretched out on the sofa and turned on the television, flipping channels until he found something worth watching. He settled back and let his mind wander.

Just as he was about to drift off a loud static noise came from the television and the screen went dark. “Now what?” he sighed and tried using the remote control to turn the set off but the batteries seemed to have gone flat.

David rose to his feet and got two steps towards the television when the screen flickered back on, he heard, “is that him?” and caught a glimpse of a man sitting behind a big desk, wearing a dark suit.

The man leaned in and pointed at David, “see? There he is!” he proclaimed.

Then another face appeared, this one was a light purple with bright red eyes and what appeared to be horns, “can he see us?” the creature asked.

“I can see you, both of you, who are you and why are you on my television?” David replied, and then felt a bit silly for talking back to them. 

“He sees us!” the purple one spoke and then another loud crackle came from the speakers and the picture jumped and then the normal programming came back on.

If he hadn’t been standing up David may have written it off as a weird dream but he couldn’t use that rationalisation. He got in behind the entertainment centre and checked the wires going into the television. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the DVD player and the Sky Box were still the only connections. 

“Get a grip,” he chided himself, “there is no way they were talking about you.”

He climbed out from behind the entertainment centre laughing, the box must have shorted out momentarily or picked up a stray transmission, it had to be. Just in case, though he unplugged the television from the power outlet if it was acting up, no telling what else it would do.

Having convinced himself that his imagination had run wild, David headed back to bed and was soon fast asleep.

A little before dawn David sat up with a start, he had rolled over in his sleep and as he did he heard the distinct noise of crinkling paper. The sound woke him from his slumber and he reached under the covers and pulled out a note. This one read, “Seriously, trust no one.”

“Oh, now it’s serious,” David groaned, realising that he would get no more sleep he got out of bed and made a pot of coffee.

The day was just dawning as he took the first sip of coffee and watched the sunrise. He was deep in thought when he heard the television come to life. 

This time there was no picture only sound, a man’s voice came from the speakers, “David?” 

David almost dropped the cup of coffee as he leapt to his feet and ran to the living room. “That’s impossible,” he muttered as he lifted the cord from the floor and noted the television was still unplugged.

“Not impossible,” the voice laughed, “just very improbable.”

There was something about the man’s voice that sounded very familiar, David was sure he’d heard it somewhere before but he couldn’t quite place it.

Before David could respond the voice continued, “you must listen. You are in grave danger, and remember, trust no one.”

“Including you?” David shot back still trying to work out how an unplugged television or hell, any television could be carrying on a conversation with him.

“For now, yes, trust absolutely no one until I can this explain face to face. Listen, this is very important you must…” the voice stopped abruptly.

“What’s important? Hello? What’s important?” David yelled at the television. 

Then he straightened up, and glanced at the ceiling for a moment, “right, it’s not bad enough that I’m seeing things and hearing voices from a switched off television, now I’m screaming at it.” 

As he returned to his cooling cup of coffee David wondered about his mental health. Maybe not having steady work was giving him too much time on his own? He felt sane, but then again insane people probably do too, he mused.


	4. Chapter 4

Later that morning, determined to not sit around and wait for the next shoe to drop David got dressed and headed back to the building where he had been for the audition the previous day. Not quite sure what he’d find there, but something kept nagging him to go back to the beginning to see if he could sort this all out.

As he stood outside the empty building trying to piece it all together his mobile rang. 

“Are you free for lunch?” his agent asked.

“How do I know you’re really who you say you are?” David replied.

His agent chuckled, “if you meet me for lunch, you’ll have visual verification. I have the famous American director, Paul Jones wanting a meeting with you for a new project and he’s in town today.”

“Famous for what?” David asked.

There was a brief pause and David could almost make out another voice in the background before his agent responded in a curiously flat voice, “he has been working on independent films, art house projects, he is up and coming.” 

David decided that it was his lack of sleep and the weird events of the last few days that were making him unduly paranoid. He agreed to meet up with them at noon, which gave him around fifteen minutes to get there.

He hailed a cab and got into the backseat before it registered that the driver was a young woman with shocking pink hair. He tried to open the door but found it locked.

“Relax,” the woman said, as the taxi pulled away from the curb, “the meter’s off.”

“Let me out!” David demanded and tried to roll down the window only to have the crank come off in his hands.

“Calm down,” the woman advised, “I’m here to help. My name’s Violet, we have a mutual friend who asked me to take care of you.”

“Our ‘mutual friend’ sure has an odd way of defining help! kidnapping me isn’t exactly helpful!” David shot back, as he tried to put the crank back on the door.

“Would you just shut up a minute?” Violet glared at him from the rear view mirror, “you are in grave danger, there are forces working against you right now. You made a pretty powerful enemy and he’s seeking to get even.”

Given her bombshell was met with total silence Violet turned around in the seat to look David in the eyes, “are you listening to me?” she challenged.

She registered a car horn honking and saw David’s eyes get really wide, and heard him yell, “look out!” before the taxi came to an abrupt halt with a loud bang. The impact triggered the door locks and wasting no time on formalities David opened the door and took off at a dead run away from her. 

As the driver of the car she hit came towards Violet with a grim look on his face, and David was rapidly disappearing from her view she sighed, “The Doctor’s going to kill me.”

Due to his little adventure, David arrived at the restaurant a bit after noon to find that his agent and the director were already seated at a table. As he approached them he realised he had seen this director recently! He was the man who appeared on his television the night before!

No, that’s crazy! Say that aloud and you will wind up in a straight jacket for sure, he chided himself. He decided to act casual and after a flurry of handshaking and introductions he took as seat opposite the director.

There were a few moments of silence as everyone looked over the menu. After a while David looked over the top of the menu to see that the director was quite clearly staring at him, his head cocked to one side. 

Staring wasn’t quite it, David thought, it was more like he was being examined like a specimen under a slide. The look in the man’s eyes sent a shiver down his spine that he covered by reaching for his glass of water. 

The waiter arrived to take their orders and then the director and his agent started talking about the project. David only half listened to them; something about a modern take on the whole “High Plains Drifter” meets “Star Wars” concept was being bantered around. 

The whole time they were talking David kept fighting the urge to get the hell out of there, something felt wrong. And just to add to the tension the fob watch in his pocket repeated its vibrating trick as well as getting quite hot against his leg. 

In an effort to steady his nerves David reached for his water glass again. As he leaned forward his body suddenly felt like it was on fire, and the hand grasping the glass started to turn transparent. He looked over at his agent and saw the blank look on his face as he just stared into space. 

The director started to laugh and with horror David saw that the man was also was becoming see through! He tried to stand but found he couldn’t move and then everything went dark.


	5. Chapter 5

Violet had followed David’s movements on the tracking device contained in the fob watch. But due to the accident and all the formalities that went with it, she made it to the restaurant just in time to see David and the man in the dark suit dematerialise.

The people around the table where the agent still sat gazing into space were so caught up in their own little worlds that no one had the first clue what had just happened. But yet the sight of a small woman with bright pink hair cursing like a sailor definitely got their attention.

The maître d’ was summoned as some of the more gentile patrons had reached the limit of their tolerance for her vocabulary and he made to escort her out. When he grabbed her arm she used her elbow to punch him in the stomach, “hands off mate!” she growled, then extracting herself from his grip she stormed out of the restaurant.  
\--------

David swam up to consciousness aware that he was not alone and probably in deep trouble but couldn’t quite get his eyes to open; they felt like they were made of lead. As he worked through that he could hear snippets of a conversation very close by.

“Are you sure that’s him?” the first voice asked.

“Of course I’m sure that’s him, how could you even question my ability to identify him?” the other voice sneered.

“Strange choice of clothing...” the first voice continued, and then David felt something pick at his shirt front.

“I told you this a million times, are all Cohalks this thick? All right, for the last time, he was in hiding. He knew I was after him and that I am ten times cleverer, more powerful and basically more everything. So he hid, posing as a human in the vain hope I couldn’t track him down,” the other voice laughed, “obviously he vastly underestimated me.”

“And the fact that teleport knocked him out, you seemed unscathed, I had it set to Time Lord biology...” the first voice insisted.

“I’m made of sterner stuff, I mean just look at him. He is all skin and bones, barely 12 stone soaking wet.”

David finally got his eyes open and found that he was being closely watched by two sets of eyes in return. One pair of eyes were flaming red orbs set in a light purple face. The other a mismatched pair, one blue and one brown belonging to the man his agent had introduced as the director Paul Jones. “Welcome back Doctor,” the director smiled.

David wanted to explain that they had the wrong person! Yes, he had played a character on a TV show by that name but something was tied tightly across his mouth preventing him from being able to speak. As he became more aware of his surroundings he realised not only was he gagged but he was also completely immobile due to restraints on his ankles, across his chest and another set on his wrists.

“I will go make the necessary arrangements,” the Cohalk turned and left the room leaving David alone with the other man.

Once he was sure the alien was gone the man leaned over David and removed the gag, “I told you I would get even with you for that little bit of trickery you pulled on me,” the man sneered.

“Who are you?” David rasped out his mouth dry from the gag.

The man regarded him in silence for a moment then burst out laughing, “oh that fool! He wiped your memory; you have no idea who I am do you?”

“I’m guessing you’re not really a hot shot director,” David countered trying to keep his voice level.

The man smiled at him, “for a human you are not that overly stupid. No, my little man I am not ‘Paul Jones’ I am The Master.”

“Right…” David replied, “um look, I’m sure you really get into this whole cosplay thing, and your friend has a great costume but this is going a bit far don’t you think?”

The Master rolled his eyes, “remember what I said about you not being stupid? I retract that. Role playing is one thing but explain, you dumb ape, how a mere pretender could teleport you onto an alien ship?”

David looked around the room as the words sunk in but said nothing. The Master watched as the light of realisation hit the actor with a widening smile. Finally he broke the silence, “this is almost too delicious, I get to sell you off to the Cohalks as The Doctor, and maybe if he comes to rescue your pathetic little hide, I can capture him and sell him off to someone else.”

Before he could say anything The Master pulled out David’s fob watch from his suit pocket, “I see The Doctor left you a present. Shall we open it? I know Christmas is months away but I can’t wait.”

“It doesn’t work,” David protested.

The Master caressed the fob before replying, “Not as a watch it doesn’t. This is something usually used by Time Lords exclusively. Odd that you have one, but no matter. It’s not a watch my dear lad, it’s a bit more special than that.”

Then leaning in quite close to David The Master held the watch up to his face and clicked it open.

As the memories and images flooded David’s mind he had the curious sensation of being knocked flat by a painless blow even though he was already in a prone position. His vision went white and the only sound he heard was the pounding of his own heart.

Next he knew The Master was watching him with a strange look on his face. “Who are you really?” the Time Lord asked his voice soft.

David swallowed hard, his head still swimming from the rush of sensations, and took a deep, shaky breath trying to get his heart to slow down before replying, “I’m beginning to wonder that myself.” 

The Master straightened up as the purple alien returned to the room. Before The Master could put the gag back on him David spoke up, “look, I don’t know what he told you, but I’m not The Doctor! My name is David, I’m an actor. I know I look like him but I’m human!”

The Cohalk gazed at The Master who just shrugged, “I warned you he would try to convince you he isn’t The Doctor. He knows he’s caught and I have won, he will do anything to get you to doubt me and let him go.”

“I’m telling you the truth!” David continued, “he’s the one trying to…”

But before he could continue The Master shoved the gag roughly into his mouth securing it tightly in place, “enough now. Shush,” he cooed, giving the straps a final tug.

Then turning to the Cohalk he laughed, “he always was a sore loser. Now about my payment...” With that he put his arm around the purple alien’s shoulders and led him out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Left alone with his thoughts David tried to come up with a way out his dilemma but the bonds that held him were too tight and his only available weapon, his ability to talk to anyone about anything, was cut off due to the gag.

One thing that was curious was how calm he felt, yes he was worried, but given the circumstances he should be panicking. After all he was trussed up like a Sunday goose about to be sold to a purple alien for god knows what, but yet, no racing heart, no urge to flee….

At that thought David laughed, “like fleeing is really an option” he admitted, again a bit puzzled why he was finding this all very amusing. 

His mirth was cut short by the return of The Master and the Cohalk, “it’s been a joy to see you again, hopefully for the last time,” The Master beamed at him, “I’d love to say it’s been a pleasure, my dear Doctor, but we both know I’d be lying.” 

With that The Master bent down kissed David on the forehead and released the lock on the wheels on the table David was secured to. Then with a slight bow he motioned for the Cohalk to take him away. 

As soon as they entered the lift the Cohalk, in a move that completely surprised David, removed the gag. Not sure how much time he had he blurted out, “I swear to you I am not The Doctor!”

The Cohalk regarded him unblinkingly for a few seconds, “that is obvious,” he replied his voice mild, “The Master under estimates our intelligence and it seemed best to play along with that without enlightening him.”

“What?” David stammered, “OK I am completely confused now.”

The Cohalk flashed what David could only assume was a smile, although it looked a lot more like the alien had a bad case of indigestion, “we know you are not The Doctor. He himself asked us to pretend to not be smarter than your average Squittle bug and be fooled.”

“What about the payment?” 

“Holographic, suggestion was planted to make The Master believe it is real, it won’t last and he will come back, armed and angry no doubt but we are counting on him not discovering that until you are safely away,” the Cohalk explained. 

Then he placed the gag back in David’s mouth, “The Master will be watching” he offered as explanation, “we must keep up appearances.”

The Cohalk was correct, The Master was watching. He held the satchel with his payment in his hand and felt he should be happy. He had sold the faux Doctor for a good price and the process exacted his revenge for the trickery that had gone before. But he wasn’t happy. 

In fact he was verging on the edge of furious. He had pictured The Doctor swooping in, challenging him, and trying to take his pet back from The Master’s clutches. It didn’t matter if he ultimately won or lost but the fact that The Doctor didn’t even seem to care enough about either of them to make an appearance, if he was honest, rather hurt his feelings. 

He could understand the human not meaning enough to him to bother, Rassilon knows they bred faster that viruses and were not worth the space they took up. But letting The Master get away with slave trafficking? No that was just wrong. Not having The Doctor try to stop him was akin to rejection.

Still, he sighed, he did have the payment from the Cohalk to console him. The Master opened the satchel and peered inside. Wait! What was that? He looked closer and saw that the edges of the money were growing a bit blurry. He reached his hand in, trying to grasp one of the bills and pulled out nothing. 

With a yell The Master tossed the bag against the opposite wall and then a slow smile grew on his face, he had under estimated The Doctor after all. 

"Let the games begin!" he laughed and watched on the monitors the Cohalk ship undock and head into space.

“See you soon,” he laughed, giving the retreating image a finger wave.

As soon as they were aboard the Cohalk ship the alien untied David without a word, and then turned his attention to getting as far away from The Master as possible. 

Having only been on one space ship, the TARDIS, David took time to walk around the cabin and take it all in. “This is pretty cool,” he smiled, “are all of your people’s, um, is people the right word? Race’s ships like this?”

The Cohalk gave another grimace which David decided was indeed a smile, “we are called the Cohalks. And no this is merely a shuttle craft.”

“My name’s David and you are?” David stuck out his hand. 

The Cohalk cocked his head to one side regarding the actor’s hand then talking to himself said, “human custom, means friendship,” and encased David’s hand in his own, squeezing gently, “the Cohalks do not have names that would translate to your language. We are all named Cohalk but for each individual there is a different way of saying the name, too subtle to pick up on translators.”

“Right. Well, thank you, whoever you are for this rescue,” David replied. “So where are we going?”

“We are meeting up with The Doctor,” the Cohalk explained, “it is our plan to get you to his TARDIS before The Master discovers our ruse.”

“Good plan,” David nodded.

Just then it felt like the ship hit a pothole, and the Cohalk’s eyes grew wide, “it would seem our plan has not come to pass,” he gestured at what appeared to be a radar screen, “we are being pursued by The Master’s ship.”

“How close are we to meeting up with the TARDIS?” David asked as the ship was hit by another blast.

“Not close enough,” the Cohalk replied, “there is an old Earth saying about a snowball’s chance in some place warm.”

“Snowball’s chance in hell, you mean?” 

“Yes that is the saying, and that is our odds of reaching it now,” the Cohalk advised, “you’d best get strapped in human David because this is going to get intense.”

No sooner had David taken the Cohalk’s advice, snapping the buckle around his waist when the whole ship rolled, and the sound of creaking metal filled his ears. As he held on tight he hoped the Cohalk knew what he was doing and prayed that they’d get to the Doctor before The Master got to them.


	7. Chapter 7

Just when David began to wonder if the snowball would have a better chance at surviving a trip through hell than he did of getting out of this alive, the jolts to the ship stopped. The Cohalk noticed this a moment later and looked at the radar screen with what David guessed was his version of a scowl.

The Cohalk tapped the monitor twice with his longest finger and then cocked an ear towards the top of the ship. 

“That should not be,” the Cohalk muttered, “why would The Master give up this easily?” 

“Shouldn't we just be glad he did?” David countered.

“Depending on the reason, human David,” the Cohalk replied, “if he has truly broken off the chase, yes. If he is merely toying with us, then no.”

“I'm hoping for the former,” David sighed, “but I have the feeling the latter is more than likely the real reason.”  
\----

In truth, neither was the case. The Master had not given up. Instead he had an unexpected visitor who with great words of persuasion and a rather large gun pointed at his head managed to convince him to stop firing on the escaping Cohalk ship.

The Master had the ship in his sights and had one finger on the firing mechanism when he heard the distinct whine of a blast rifle not two centimetres from his ear. In his other ear he heard, “unless you want to regenerate with only half your brains intact, you'd better step away from the controls.”

He straightened up and made a great show of putting his hands in the air, and he smirked at the sight of a little human female with a garish shade of fuchsia hair. He recognised her as one of the minions he had used to entrap the faux Doctor, but couldn't quite work out how she followed him.

As she leaned forward to switch off the armaments her necklace fell out of her blouse It was a silver chain that ended in a small key. It took The Master only a few seconds to realise why the key looked so familiar! It was a TARDIS key, there had to be only one explanation! This was one of The Doctor's little pets! 

Keeping his voice calm he asked, “so where is he?”

Violet looked at him, “which 'he' are you talking about?”

“Don't be coy with me, my dear girl, you know who I mean,” he cooed, trying for charming, “The Doctor.”

“Like I would tell you,” she shot back, “now you, turn this ship around and head to these coordinates.” With that she shoved a map into his hands, “and don't think of trying anything funny, I have had a hell of a day!”

The Master sat at the controls, painfully aware of the gun pointed at him and decided to play ball. After all it was a distinct possibility that not only would the human not-Doctor be there so would the real thing. Now more than ever he was determined that he was not giving up until he had both of them at his mercy.  
\----

The further they got away from The Master the more David relaxed, finally breaking the silence he asked, “I don't suppose you could just drop me off at Earth on your way to wherever you are going?”

The Cohalk shook his head, “my instructions are to bring you to Vel Consadine.”

“Why does that name sound familiar?” David wondered.

The Cohalk made a noise that sounded like a cross between a belch and a sneeze, “I was informed that you would ask that.”

“And?” David prompted.

“The answer I was told to give you is 'not all horned beasts are bad'.” 

David was quiet for a moment, then smiled, “The Satan Pit.” 

The Cohalk nodded and made the odd sound again. David guessed that it was a laugh by the look of mirth in the creature's eyes. Then the Cohalk pointed this own horns, “these do seem to be a liability in humanoid societies.”

“Maybe they're just jealous because you wear them better than they could,” David laughed.

The Cohalk laughed back, “I like you human David, you will be considered friend to us.” With that he patted David on the shoulder and bared his teeth in an approximation of a smile. Then he turned back to the controls, “we will be at Vel Consadine within a few of your Earth hours, if you wish to move about the ship it is appropriate to do so now.” 

Now that the danger had passed, even for a moment it struck David that he was in a real space ship and off to a totally different planet, in the company of a purple horned alien. He laughed at the absurdity of the situation, as he looked out one of the windows to see the dark sky littered with sparkling stars. 

He wasn't sure what was worse, knowing that he was still on The Master's blacklist or knowing that once he was back home, if he did get home again and if he was allowed to keep the memories, he could never tell anyone what he saw or did. Not if he didn't want to be sectioned, that is.


	8. Chapter 8

Lost in his own thoughts David didn't notice straight away that the Cohalk ship had landed. He was pulled back to reality by a large purple hand placed gently on his shoulder.

“Human David, we are here,” the Cohalk gestured to the door, “it is time to depart.”

“My name is just David.”

“I beg your forgiveness Just David,” the alien replied, bowing slightly and holding his hands up in supplication.

“No it's just...my name is....” the actor started, then figuring he was only going to make things worse, shrugged his shoulders, “you know what? Never mind, it's not that important.”

The Cohalk opened the door, indicating that he was to go first. As he stepped out of the ship David saw that they were in what appeared to be an other-world's version of an airport. Many small vessels were docked into a main building and the causeways were covered by some sort of protective dome.

“Is this Vel Consadine?” He asked.

The Cohalk nodded, “my race visited this planet just as the inhabitants became sentient  
now we are worshipped as demi gods. I do not let this go to my head.”

No sooner had he gotten those words out when a small orange creature approached and threw a garland over his head. Bowing and then eyeing David with one stalked eye said, “you didn't need to bring your own meat, we would be honoured to prepare some fresh for you! Please enjoy your stay with us my liege, ” Then just as quickly turned away and fled.

“Meat?” David laughed, “should I be worried?”

The Cohalk gave a smile, “Just David I hope you are not offended but you would not be enough to feed a small child let alone an adult of my species.”

“Not offended at all. In fact I'm relieved.” 

“And just in case you are concerned I may change my mind, my race are herbivores,” the Cohalk assured him.

They seemed to arrive at their destination, a small dining area just off the main building, “I was instructed to purchase for you a chocolate shake and to warn you that they are not as good here but no one will shoot darts at you.”

“Always a bonus,” David countered and let himself be lead to a booth at the back of the restaurant.  
\----

The Master was not having as good a time. In fact he was getting rather tired of the metal cuffs that held him firmly to the pilot's seat and chafed his ankles Combined with being stuck with a rather vulgar female captor wasn't helping his mood.

“I need a break,” he fussed, “my eyes are getting tired.”

Violet waved the gun at him carelessly, “you forget I know a lot about Time Lords, you rarely get tired, you have excellent vision and piloting a ship is like a walk in the park for you. Either you stop grumbling or I'll give you something to complain about, OK?”

“Why doesn't the oh-so-clever Doctor take care of matters himself?” he muttered under his breath, “instead he sends a low class wench to do his dirty work.”

“Another comment like that, bud, and I may forget my promise to deliver you unharmed and start shooting off parts that you will miss,” she growled at him.

“So where is The Doctor?” The Master continued ignoring Violet's outburst.

“You know he's not stupid, he knows you are trying to get him carted off by some shady dudes like you did to David, so we're rendezvousing in neutral territory,” with that she popped a large bubble with the gum she seemed to be constantly smacking in The Master's ear.

The Master closed his eyes, letting the image of prying open her jaws and extracting the gum and perhaps even a few odd teeth and placing them in a much different orifice soothe his nerves. The thought of it made him laugh aloud. When he opened his eyes he saw the barrel of the gun pointed at his nose.

“I don't like being laughed at mate,” Violet sneered at him.

“Then perhaps you should reconsider your choice of hair colour,” The Master cooed at her.

Violet's eyes narrowed, but she lowered the gun and turned back to the controls.

The Master, never one to let go once he found someone's weak spot decided to press on, “what is your relationship with The Doctor?”

“We're not playing twenty questions,” she shot back not bothering to look at him.

“Are you one of his cast-off pets?”

That was met with a grimace but no response, so he continued, “a former 'assistant' as he likes to call you? No, don't tell me I'm keen to guess. Let's see, weapon outside the normal human range, surly attitude, and a vague hint of a fascist military smell about you, are you with Torchwood?”

“Not on the 'real' Earth, but I was on a parallel...” Violet replied, her voice growing wistful, then she caught herself and grew angry, “hey! Listen mate, I've had just about bloody enough of you! I suggest you shut it before I shut it for you!”

The Master smiled, these humans were so easy to manipulate it wasn't even a challenge, it was easier than taking sweets from a baby, to use an old Earth saying. And this candy floss haired girl was no exception. 

He suppressed a laugh, how absurd it was that The Doctor would send a weak brained fool to foil his plans. No, he was just playing along until he could get the not-Doctor and The Doctor in the same place. Then they would know why he was truly The Master.  
\-----

The chocolate shake David was currently enjoying wasn't as good as the one he had before, the Cohalk was correct, but it was pretty darn good. Especially when he compared it to what the purple alien was drinking. The name of it was said so quickly he didn't catch it and when it was set before the Cohalk, it all its glowing green glory and disturbing tendency to emit the odd burping noise made David glad he didn't have to drink it.

“What's in that?” David finally asked, his curiosity piqued.

“I don't think there's a equivalent word in your language. It is the distilled essence of a substance that forms in the still and stagnant waters of Alzarius.”

“Pond scum?” 

The Cohalk thought about that for a moment then nodded, “it is quite refreshing, would you like to try it Just David?” 

With that he thrust the glass in David's face, the smell making the actor turn almost the same shade of green as the drink itself, “um, no thanks I'm good,” he swallowed hard fighting the urge to retch.

The Cohalk removed the glass and took another sip, “what is in a chocolate shake?”

David picked up the shake cup, “it's ice cream, milk and chocolate syrup mostly.”

“Human milk?”

“I can't say what sort of milk they use here, but on Earth it's usually cow's milk. Although I have had soy milk, which is made from soy beans,” David explained.

The Cohalk was quiet for a moment, “how do you milk a soy bean?”

“I would guess with a very small bucket and stool,” a voice familiar offered.

At that both David and the Cohalk looked up to see a tall thin man in a brown suit and long brown coat standing in front of them with a huge grin on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

"Where the hell have you been?" David demanded.

"Hello to you too," The Doctor laughed, and slid into the booth next to the actor, "how's the shake?"

The Cohalk held up his drink to offer The Doctor a taste, "I think this is probably better."

David bit back a smile as he saw an expression of horror cross the Time Lord's face. It was quickly replaced with a look of resignation as he reluctantly tilted some of the green liquid into his mouth. 

As the concoction hit The Doctor's sensitive taste buds his eyes got really wide and he seemed to momentarily lose the ability to swallow, it was almost as if his throat refused to let the stuff go any further. He finally leaned forward, head slightly tilted back, one hand on his chest and gulped audibly. He seemed to be forcing himself to not retch as he turned a shade of green that complimented the Cohalk's drink, and he handed the glass back.

"Thanks," The Doctor managed to squeak out.

Feeling he had been tortured enough David handed The Doctor his chocolate shake, which the Time Lord accepted readily and quickly downed the contents of the glass barely stopping for a breath.

Only after the last drop was gone did The Doctor's colour start to return to normal. He regarded the empty glass in silence before handing it back to David, "I seem to have finished this off, do you want another one?" he asked.

"No that's OK," David replied, "now you mind telling me what the hell's going on?"

"Ah....that!" The Doctor exclaimed and then grew silent again.

After waiting for a few minutes expecting The Doctor to continue, David broke the quiet, "yes, that. What is going on?"

The Doctor whispered something to the Cohalk, and the purple alien rose from the booth and left the two of them alone.

Both men watched the Cohalk leave, this time it was The Doctor who spoke first, "I'm sorry that The Master got away from me and went after you. In retrospect it was probably not a good idea to wipe your memory. I won't make that mistake again."

"How'd he get loose?" David asked.

"A bit of carelessness on my part, I had left him with the Judoon at The Shadow Proclamation just while I took care of some business. But I completely forgot to take into account how persuasive he can be, " The Doctor explained, "and by the time I got wind he was gone...well, you know the rest. But no worries, you're safe now."

"But he's still out there," David countered, gesturing in the general direction of the ceiling, "so how can you say I'm safe?"

The Doctor smiled, "an old friend has taken care of that" and pointed at the two newest occupants of the restaurant, a pink haired woman and a man wearing a dark suit, and a very unhappy look. The Doctor jumped up to greet them.

The Master seemed about as pleased to be there as the turkey is happy to be part of Christmas dinner. His scowl only deepened as The Doctor lifted the Violet off of her feet in a hug and she giggled in his arms. 

Seeing they were distracted The Master tried to sneak off, only to have the electronic collar around his neck give a warning beep when he got one metre away from the two of them.

Violet frowned at him and suggested to him, in mostly polite terms, that he walk in front of them to the table where David was waiting for them.  
The Master turned on his heels and walked with his shoulders in a tense line to the table. He shot David a glare only to get an eye roll from the actor, which did not improve his mood at all.

Violet waited until The Master was out of earshot, "how is he?" she asked nodding in David's direction.

The Doctor shrugged, "he seems to be OK, I'm sure a bit frazzled from all this but I have faith in him."

"I can imagine he is," Violet sighed, "I wish I could tell him the truth."

"You can't," The Doctor cautioned, his voice low, "you never tell him. You do that and his whole world will shatter. That would be completely wrong."

"He looks so much like..." Violet started but seeing how close they were to the table she stopped in mid-sentence.

The Master had taken the seat opposite David seemed to be trying to have a staring contest with him, but since the actor seemed to be bent on completely ignoring him it was not terribly successful. The Doctor sat next to The Master and Violet slid in next to David.

"Hello again," David turned to Violet, "you're the 'old friend'?"

"Did he call me old?" Violet shot The Doctor a dirty look, "my name's Violet and I'm only 24! Fine one to talk!"

"I'm David. Nice meet you, formally that is," David smiled.

That smile was so familiar that Violet almost gasped aloud, she wanted to take David in her arms and tell him everything but a warning look from The Doctor made her regain her composure. She picked up the card of specials from the centre of the table, "I'm starving, what's good here?"

"The chocolate shake," The Doctor and David spoke at the same time. The two men laughed at this but Violet found her eyes filling with tears. She quickly put her head down closer to the card and pretended to be studying it closely as she fought to regain her composure.

She thought she had covered nicely but The Master was not fooled. He saw the way she looked at David with a growing interest. He was used to human females mooning over The Doctor, but this wasn't just a case of puppy love. What did the pink haired wench have for the actor? he wondered. 

Just who was this human, really? He pondered. There had to be something more to him than his remarkable resemblance to The Doctor, but what?


	10. Chapter 10

The Master's was so involved in this latest puzzle that he didn’t see Violet pass The Doctor a note or see him nod in agreement. His thoughts were interrupted by a poke on the shoulder, "I said you and I need to have a little chat, alone," The Doctor repeated, then getting to his feet gestured to one of the private rooms off the main dining area. 

The Master sighed, and stood up slowly, with an air of being massively put upon.

"Come on shift!" The Doctor snapped at The Master and then leaning in very close whispered to Violet, "remember, you can't tell him!"

After the two Time Lords left the room there was a bit of awkward silence David finally broke the ice, "so, how long have you known The Doctor?"

"Does one ever really know him?” Violet jumped as his question brought her out of her own world, “sorry, I meant, I met him when I was around 19 so five years."

Something finally clicked in David's mind, "you're the real life Rose?" he asked with a broad smile.

Violet's face lit up in a smile too, "yes, Violet, Rose, 'the names were changed to protect the innocent' but not very much. He's not always as clever as he thinks he is."

David had a million questions he wanted to ask Violet swirling about in his head but he also didn't want to scare her off, and she seemed a bit distracted. He took a deep breath and was about to launch into a round of them but she jumped in first.

"Did you have a happy childhood? What was it like growing up in Scotland? Did you have a lot of friends?" She blurted out.

David sat in stunned silence from her verbal onslaught for a second, and then he cleared his throat, "um mostly happy. I mean I was a complete geek and still am, so I didn't really fit in that well but I had a few good friends and a very supportive family..." he stopped when he realised that Violet was on the verge of tears, "are you OK?"

"Sorry! I am just really tired. I have had a rough few days," she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand with a grunt of disgust. 

Then she mustered a smile, "you've got a bit of something on your face," with that she licked her thumb and reached over to wipe off the spot of soot on David's cheek. Then she slid her hand down to gently cup the side of his face.  
The gesture conjured up a snippet of a memory but before he could focus on it more Violet quickly withdrew her hand with a gasp, "sorry, I can't...I mean...I am..." with that she stood up and ran crying from the room.  
\-----

The Master stood, his arms folded in front of him, waiting for The Doctor to tell him what it was they needed to chat about, "what is it?" he finally demanded.

The Doctor looked up from the magazine he had found with a look of confusion on his face, "what is what?"

Closing his eyes and counting to one hundred to stop himself from wringing The Doctor's scrawny neck, The Master managed to keep his voice level, "what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Nothing, really," The Doctor smiled, and then looking out the window that let into the main dining area he saw Violet go running past, "now that is not a good sign." 

The Doctor opened the door and took off after Violet. The Master smirked at this until the collar on his neck began to beep; he yelped and ran after The Doctor. 

Once he had caught up to the other Time Lord The Doctor shot him a strange look, "I didn't know you cared about her?"

The Master, struggling to keep up with The Doctor's long legged stride, managed to gasp out, "I don't give a rat's about that silly human I just don't want my head to be blown off!" he gestured at the collar.

The Doctor grinned at him and said, "then you better keep up" and put on a burst of speed. The Master cursed under his breath but managed to keep pace with him until they caught up to Violet.

The Doctor pushed the door of the room open and started to step inside without much thought. The Master however seemed reluctant to join him and put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "You can't go in there!"

The Doctor stopped and gave the door another push, this time a bit more cautiously, "why not? It's not locked, there's no alarm or trip mechanism or anything is there?"

"It's a Ladies' room you fool" The Master pointed to the emblem on the door, "unless there's something very different about your current regeneration, I don't think you qualify."

"Well, then it'll be just us girls," The Doctor simpered, then with a slight curtsy he skipped into the room.  
\-----

Back in the restaurant David was trying to figure out what he had said or done to make Violet react the way she did, but was drawing a complete blank. Maybe it was just down to exhaustion, he reasoned rubbing his eyes, lord knows he was pretty knackered himself. But he couldn't quite bring himself to dismiss it as just fatigue, he just knew there was more to it but for the life of him he couldn't think of what it was.

He was distracted by the return of the Cohalk, “are you alright Just David?” he asked taking a seat opposite.

“I am not sure,” David admitted.

“Female troubles?” the Cohalk prompted; obviously he had been watching the goings on from somewhere in the restaurant. David nodded so the alien continued, “I don’t know much about human mating rituals, but on my planet you would offer her some fermented scrub moss as a gift of apology.”

“On my planet it’s kind of similar except it’s flowers or chocolates but I just met her, so it’s not really a matter of a mating ritual,” David explained “but in this case I was just talking to her and she ran away crying.”

“Have you checked that you do not give off unpleasant smells Just David?” the Cohalk offered, leaning in to sniff the actor.

“Are you saying I stink?” 

The Cohalk sat back, “all humans smell a bit different to us. But you do not offend.”

“That’s a relief,” David smiled. Figuring he may never get meet another Cohalk he asked the alien about his home planet, listened intently as he was filled in on its history.  
\-----

The Doctor found the stall Violet had locked herself in after the fourth try; “open up!” he called to her after finding the door was locked.

“Go away!” she shouted, “can’t a girl get some time to herself?”

“You can’t possibly really be using that for its intended purpose for over ten minutes,” The Doctor reasoned.

“I am not discussing my bathroom habits with you!” Violet protested, “now leave me alone!”

The Master eyed the exit anxiously, “we really shouldn’t be in here.”

The Doctor laughed, “the assembled hoards of Genghis Kahn didn’t even make you flinch but the idea of getting caught in a Ladies’ lavatory scares you?”

“It’s not funny,” The Master grumbled.

“I really need to talk to her alone,” The Doctor continued.

“Then remove the restraining collar,” The Master replied hopefully.

“Not a chance,” The Doctor snorted, “what you need to do is stand in the corner, over there, facing away and plug your ears.”

“I am not doing that! Forget it!”

The Doctor pulled a small camera out of his pocket and aimed it at The Master, “unless you want your picture sent around the cosmos standing next to a tampon dispenser I suggest you do as I said.”

The Master turned to see the dispenser, and he went white as a sheet, “you bastard!” he hissed and then with a resigned sigh went to stand in the corner.


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor waited until The Master was turned around and then used the sonic screwdriver to open the stall's lock.

Violet looked up from at him with a sigh, "I hate that thing."

Despite her attempts to hide it, The Doctor could see that she had been crying, he knelt down in front of her, "I know this is hard..." he started.

"I thought I could handle this," Violet interrupted, "I had prepared myself for this and thought I could see him without it hurting, but I can't. I really wish I could tell him the truth, but you're right that wouldn't be fair and it wouldn't be kind. I don't know, maybe one day he'll figure it out all on his own."

The Doctor put a finger to his lips, and stood up. He peeked out the door and called, out "fingers in ears!" and then looked back at Violet with a shrug, "sorry, he was cheating."

Violet rose from her perch on the edge of the stool and stood up as well, "OK feeling sorry for myself is over. Let's head back before somebody else tries to cart him off."

The Doctor tapped The Master on the shoulder, "come on let's go."

The Master turned around and put his hands down, "I did what you asked how about deleting that photo now?"  
"No way," The Doctor laughed, "it's one of your best pictures, ever. I am saving this one!"

The Master had heard it all, of course. Even with his fingers lightly pressed against his ears, and now his mind whirled. Obviously they were talking about David, The Master had been aware there was more to the human than met the eye. But now this just added fuel to the fire, he would discover the secret that neither The Doctor and that ridiculous female didn't want him to know.

When they reached the main dining area, Violet hesitated a bit before squaring her shoulders and approaching the table. 

The Cohalk was talking about his home world while David, leaning forward with his chin cupped in his hands and elbows resting on the table, listened with wide eyed enthusiasm. 

Both Violet and The Doctor smiled at this, but The Master just rolled his eyes, "don't believe a word he says," gesturing at the Cohalk, "it's a third rate planet at best and it has all the charm of a foetid swamp."

The Cohalk sneered at this and The Doctor shot a warning look at The Master before turning to David, "it's a nice planet, very untamed and natural." 

David straightened up, the spell broken, "it sounds wonderful. I would love to see it sometime."

"We would be honoured to have you Just David," the Cohalk smiled.

"For breakfast," The Master interjected.

The Doctor sighed, "'ignore him, it's that time of month."

The Cohalk stood up and got in very close to The Master, "out of respect for Just David and The Doctor we will let your attempts to rile us go. But make no mistake, you are no friend to us and if you do step onto our world, you will soon find out what that means."

"All right, everyone just calm down," David stood and took the Cohalk by the arm, "he fancies himself an evil genius, but he's really just a jerk and don't waste your breath."

"Thank you Just David," the Cohalk clapped a hand on his shoulder, "you are the voice of reason."

The Doctor pushed The Master down into one of the chairs and took the seat next to him. Violet hesitated momentarily before sliding in next to David.

"I just wanted to say whatever I said or did to upset you earlier, I'm really sorry, " David said as soon as she was seated.

Violet mustered a smile, "you didn't do anything. I'm just on edge from being so tired. This dimension jumping stuff can take a lot out of you."

"And is completely wrong," The Doctor added.

"You didn't send her after me?" David asked, looking from The Doctor to Violet with a confused expression.

"No," The Doctor replied, "she was already there, so I asked her to help out."

"What were you..." David started.

"Anyway..." The Doctor interrupted, "time to get you home." With that he stood up and started towards the exit, The Master jumped up to follow him as the collar around his neck beeped once.

The Cohalk rose, "Just David this for you," he reached into the pouch he had strapped to his hip, and handed David a small black box, "it is a communication device with a direct link to us. If you ever need us, or want to take us up on the offer to see our home world just hold it in your hands and think of us and we'll come for you." With that he bowed slightly at David, then at Violet, and left the restaurant by one of the back doors.

David and Violet had just gotten to the door themselves when they were almost run down by the Time Lords charging back into the restaurant, "slight change of plans!" The Doctor shouted as he went running past. 

The two humans stood in confusion as they went by until David spotted some armed creatures running their way. David grabbed Violet's arm, "I think we'd better..." he started then broke into a dead run pulling her with him.


	12. Chapter 12

Violet laughed, "never a dull moment!"

David grimaced and turned to see the armed creatures gaining on them, "dull would be nice!"

As they caught up with the fleeing Time Lords, David asked, "why isn't anyone ever happy to see you?"

The Doctor grinned, "this time it's not me! They're after The Master!" 

"Then why are you running?" David asked.

"They may be after him but they were shooting at us, figured staying there and encouraging that behaviour was not in my best interest!" The Doctor laughed.

"Good point!"

They got to the back of the restaurant and The Doctor kicked open the doors, waited until everyone was through and using the sonic screwdriver, fused the lock so the armed thugs couldn't get past.

Violet leaned up against the building trying to catch her breath, "who were those guys?" she asked.

The Master took time to straighten his suit jacket and tie before answering, "nobody of consequence. If he," he gestured at The Doctor, "hadn't been jabbering away at me about nothing I wouldn't have been caught off guard."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and pulled out a stethoscope from his jacket pocket and put the earpieces in his ears and placed it up against the door. He listened intently for a while, all eyes on him, then straightened up with a frown.

"What's going on?" David finally asked.

The Doctor sighed, "well the good news is, they have to go around to the front and then double back here to catch up with us."

"And the bad news?" 

He didn't answer straight away instead The Doctor rubbed one of his eyes and carefully put the stethoscope back in his pocket. Then he brushed an imaginary bit of link off of his coat.

"The bad news?" David repeated.

Figuring the actor wasn't going to drop the subject The Doctor gestured at the sealed door, "the bad news is that if we want to get to the TARDIS, it's also in the front of the building."

The Master groaned, "great! so you locked everyone out, and the only way back is right into the path of the soldiers?"

"Yup," The Doctor admitted, "we have a 50-50 chance of not choosing the same route they are taking."

"With your luck," The Master sneered, "we'd walk right into them."

"You have a better suggestion?" Violet turned on him.  
The Master, in an effort to ignore her, seemed to be very interested in his fingernails all of a sudden. 

"I hate to be a pest," David interjected, "but I'm assuming that those armed folks are heading around our way, right? Makes sense to me that we probably shouldn't just stand around waiting for them to arrive!"

The Doctor nodded and walked to the edge of the building and gingerly peeked around the corner, "coast is clear, allons-y!"

The Master only moved when the collar around his neck beeped, then he caught up to the him, "are you sure this is the right way to go?" he asked.

The Doctor smiled, "no, but it's more fun not knowing don't you think?"

"I swear, I am buying you a dictionary if and when I ever get back to Earth," David shook his head, "you have the weirdest definition of what is fun."

The Doctor just laughed at this and gestured for the rest of them to follow.

Despite The Master's lack of faith they reached the front of the building without further incident, The Doctor led them through the hall way into a utility room and into the TARDIS.

Once they were in flight everyone except The Doctor relaxed. He looked at the view screen with a frown, then adjusting the controls, looked back at the screen and muttered to himself. The Master took a seat on one of the chairs towards the back of the console room and pulled out a notepad, jotting down something. At the same time Violet went up one of the ramps and disappeared.

As The Doctor's mutterings ceased to be in English and grew in volume David became increasingly concerned, "what's going on?" he finally asked.

The Doctor stood up and ran a hand through his hair, "they're following us!" 

"Can't you lose them?" 

"I'm trying to!" The Doctor snapped, then making an apologetic gesture, took a deep breath, "I think they may have placed a homing device on the outside of the TARDIS, but until we land I can't remove it."

"And if we land, they will catch us," David nodded, "so now what?"

The Master interrupted the conversation, "can you please remove this collar?"

"This really isn't the best timing," The Doctor replied, "I'm sort of busy."  
"I can see that," The Master shot back, "but I have to use the, well you know, facilities. And unless you want to accompany me, I certainly would rather not have to go in the corner."

The Doctor stared at him, his face impassive for a few moments, then took the sonic screwdriver out, aimed it at a metal bracelet around his own wrist, and removed it. He then walked over to David and fastened it around his arm and gave it a short burst from the sonic screwdriver. 

"You're in charge of him now," The Doctor told the actor, "if he gets more than one metre away from you it will give him a warning tone. If he exceeds the time out or gets further away it'll go off. I've dead locked it so he can't get it off you."

"What if he just cuts my hand off?" David looked at the bracelet with a frown, "it's not like I can just grow a new one."

The Doctor gestured at the bracelet, "The green button is a warning shot, if you press that it will just beep to remind him you have control. If he steps out of line or you feel threatened, press that red button, it will immobilise him." Then he turned his attention back to the monitors.

The Master glared at The Doctor's back and then at David with a look of disgust, "come on," he finally said, "I really need to go."

David followed The Master up the stair case to the back of the TARDIS, they passed door after door and hallways stretched out endlessly, "wow!" David exclaimed, "just how big is this thing?"

The Master shrugged, "it's different for each TARDIS and each pilot," then he opened a door, looked in and closed it, "and it appears to have a sense of humour."

"What do you mean?" 

"The last time I was on-board the lavatory was right there," The Master kicked the wall, "damned beast."

After a few more tries the right room was found, David waited outside and tried to remember what path they had taken to get there, in case he had to go back to the console room on his own.

Struck by the absurdity of being a bathroom monitor on an alien space craft David had a good laugh, he could never have imagined this, ever. The Master strolled out a few minutes later, and saw the look of amusement on the actor's face, and decided it was time to wipe that smile off of him.

"My dear boy," he cooed, "let us have a little 'get to know you' chat."

"Not to be rude, " David countered, "but I really doubt you're all that interested in me."

"Oh but I am," The Master smiled, "I am very, very interested in you."

"That doesn't sound good," David stepped away from the wall, "I think it would be best if we just returned to the console room."

"Now don't be like that. I can be a very valuable being to know. I am very generous to my friends."

"Right..." David cocked an eyebrow at him. 

The Master held his breath for a second at that gesture. That was the exact same way The Doctor would have looked at him for such a dubious sentence! 

Who was this human? If only he could delve into his mind and find it out. He reached out telepathically only to hit a vision of a brick wall. Damn! He wished he had paid more attention back at their first meeting, if he hadn't been so distracted by The Doctor he would have probed this human further.

The Master came out of his musings as the collar around his neck beeped, he looked at David and found the human holding down the green button on the bracelet around his wrist. As if the actor could read his thoughts he said, "don't even think of trying it! Come on, let's head back."

Deciding it was best to try to get the human to let down his guard, The Master led him straight back to the console room without detour. Once they arrived there he noticed the actor stifling a yawn. 

The Doctor, even with his mind on the monitor noticed it too, "why don't you go lay down?" he asked.

David eyed the jump seat, "even if I could sleep I really doubt that would be very comfortable."

"The TARDIS has bedrooms," The Doctor explained, "it's also got a kitchen, and laundry room, anyway, you don't have to try to sleep in here."

"What about this?" David held up his wrist with the bracelet on it.

"Oh, sorry!" The Doctor exclaimed, and set about to quickly remove it and put in on his own wrist, "now, if you go up that ramp, and four doors on the right is one of the guest rooms. You need to rest."

David half thought about arguing, but he was exhausted, and the idea of a quick nap sounded very tempting. He followed The Doctor's instructions and found the guest room, he wasn't quite sure what to expect but the room was very spacious and fitted with a large four poster bed. He kicked off his shoes pulled back the covers and climbed in.

David was just about asleep when he heard the door open, he looked up to see Violet standing in the doorway. Without a word she sat down on the edge of the bed watching him. 

"Um...can I help you?" he asked. Slightly discomforted by her intense stare and complete silence he started to sit up.

Violet put her finger on his lips, "shhh, go to sleep..." she cooed, and gently pushed him back down onto the bed. She reached out to stroke his hair as she sang a lullaby softly to him. 

David at first was a bit taken aback by this but quickly found his eyes grew heavy, despite his efforts to stay awake and soon he was fast asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Violet waited until David was completely asleep before she stretched out next to him. She smiled as she laid down, even though she knew that this was going to come back and bite her later. But now, in this moment, she was content. She snuggled in close and counted the freckles on his face until she drifted off to sleep herself.

"Who is he really?" The Master asked.

"Who are you talking about?" The Doctor replied, not looking up from the monitor.

"You know who I mean, that almost clone of yours."

"David."

"Yes, David!" The Master snapped, "there's something you're not telling me."

The Doctor nodded and moved towards the other side of the TARDIS' controls, "there's a lot I'm not telling you and I am not planning to either."

"Is he really the meta-crisis? Is that why he has that pocket watch?" 

"I really am not going to discuss this with you," The Doctor's voice spoke from behind the central column.

"Is he some weird alternate universe human version of you? The result of a teleport accident? A science experiment that took your DNA and spliced it with human DNA? Is he a clone experiment gone wrong?" 

"That ridiculous female figures into this somehow," The Master continued, "she has deep feelings for him but not like I would expect. Obviously she takes pity on him because he's so homely, after all he looks just like you!"

"Flattery isn't going to work either," The Doctor laughed.

The Master snorted, "it wasn't a compliment." Then he walked around to the side of the console to confront The Doctor but he couldn't find him, "where are you?"

"Look down," The Doctor advised and The Master realised he was underneath the grating rifling through a slate blue storage chest.

"What are you doing down there?"

"Waiting for you to get off the panel so I can come back up," The Doctor smiled, "and I was looking for these." He held up a set of infra-red goggles.

The Master briefly thought of lingering on the panel, keeping The Doctor trapped, but then he remembered the collar and stepped back, letting the other Time Lord out. "What do you need those for?" he asked.

"Your 'friends' the ones who fired on us? They are tracking the TARDIS with far too much accuracy to be skill or even luck, they have planted a tracking device, the scans are not picking up anything on the normal wavelengths so I thought this might help."

"Why would they do that?" 

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" The Doctor stepped in close, "no more games, who are they and what do they want from you?" 

"How about an exchange of information? I tell you that and you tell me why David is so important," The Master smiled charmingly.

"Better yet," The Doctor leaned in closer, his dark eyes unreadable, "either you tell me what I want to know or I'll turn you over to them and get you out of my hair, off my TARDIS and out of my life."

The Master looked in The Doctor's eyes and held back a shiver, the smile on his face slipped, "I may have, accidentally, mind you, caused a civil war, recently."

"Accidentally? How do you start a war, accidentally?" 

"I sort of assassinated the much beloved leader, well not me personally but I had it done and then framed a rival faction."

"Logopolis, all over again.." The Doctor sighed.

The Master sighed, "you'll never let me live that one down, will you?" 

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't land and let them take you away?"

"Because you'd miss me," The Master smiled.

"I said a good reason," The Doctor snorted, and with that he put on the infra-red glasses and turned back to the monitor, "ah! Got you!" He called out a moment later. Then removing the glasses he put on his own pair and flipped a few switches making the TARDIS rock a bit and emit a small popping noise.  
\--------

The tilting of the TARDIS woke David up. Although he was a bit disoriented when he awoke he was aware that he wasn't alone pretty immediately upon waking. Mostly due to the fact that Violet had managed to wrap herself around him making it darn near impossible to move.

He laid still trying to decide if he should try to extract himself from her embrace or just try to go back to sleep. She looks so peaceful, he thought, remembering how troubled she looked back at the restaurant like she would burst into tears at any moment. It would be a shame to wake her now he concluded. Forcing himself to relax he closed his eyes and drifted back off to sleep.  
\--------

The Master followed The Doctor around the console room like an eager puppy, "how about a hint? We could play twenty questions?"

"No!"

"Animal, vegetable or mineral?" The Master laughed.

The Doctor shot him a glare but didn't answer him.

"Well, obviously animal. But the real question is, what breed?"

"Just let it go," The Doctor sighed.

"You know me better than that," The Master laughed.

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and flipped a few more switches on the console. Then reaching into his pocket he pulled out a pair of hand cuffs, "you need to put this on."

"What? Are you mad? No way." The Master protested.

"I need some time alone with Violet, and you have not proven yourself to be very cooperative, so it's either I cuff you to the jump seat until I'm done, or I push this little red button and knock you out. Your choice," he hovered a finger over the bracelet on his wrist one eyebrow cocked.

"Fine!" The Master yelled, and snapped one end around his arm and sat on the jump seat, "what makes you think I can't get out of these?"

"Where would you go?" The Doctor laughed, snapping the other end around the support pillar for the jump seat, “the controls are isomorphically locked and unless you are planning to go on a space walk without a suit, you're stuck here."

"Then why cuff me at all?"

"It'll buy me some time, and give you something else to occupy your mind." With that The Doctor took off up one the ramps and disappeared from sight.


	14. Chapter 14

The Doctor looked for Violet in the room she had claimed when she travelled with him, but she wasn't there. On his way to look for her in the library it suddenly came to him where she would be. He quietly opened the door to the guest room and saw her curled up against David. He watched them in silence for a moment a slight smile on his face, then as started to leave the room Violet woke up.

She sat up, quickly disengaging herself and leapt to her feet, "sorry," she exclaimed, "I know this is wrong."

The Doctor put his arm around her shoulders pulling her to him, "It's OK. You didn't tell him did you?"

Violet looked over at David's still form, "no he was so exhausted that he fell asleep before the temptation grew too great."

"Good," The Doctor smiled at her tenderly, then growing serious, "I think it's best if we drop you off first, you need to get home and back to your world."

Violet sighed, leaning her head on the Time Lord's thin chest, "I guess. You're right of course but I would love to spend more time with him."

"You can't," The Doctor pulled her back from him and looked her in the eyes, "you made the right decision. Even I didn't know who he was at first, which considering I know everything is pretty remarkable. But if you let down your guard, if anyone else finds, out all your sacrifice and all you worked for will be for nothing."

"I wish I could take him back to my Earth, just for a bit, I won't keep him there," Violet begged, "just for a little while?"

"He's not a pet Violet, he has his own life, friends and family now. You can't do that to him," The Doctor protested.

Violet straightened up, "why not? You did it to me!" she snapped.

"You went with your whole family, you were not thrown out there with no one, which is essentially what you would do to him," The Doctor soothed, pulling her back to him, "right now you're upset and angry, but I know you'll do the right thing."

"I am tired of doing the right thing!" Violet sighed, "can't I just be wrong for a bit?"

"Sorry, I'm so sorry, but it doesn't work that way."

"I know," Violet cast her eyes back at David, "before you take me home, I'd better freshen up, I'm sure I look a mess."

"You look fine to me," The Doctor protested giving her the once over, "except, now that you mention it, what's with the hair colour? Did you fall into a vat of candy floss?"

Violet laughed and smacked him playfully on the arm, "you smooth talker!" and with that they both left the room.  
\---

David sat up the minute the door shut. At first he laid still thinking he didn't want to interrupt the private conversation that The Doctor and Violet were having but the more they talked the more confused he felt. Obviously they had been talking about him, but what they were saying didn't make any sense! 

Just when David thought his head was going to explode, he heard the door knob turn, he quickly laid down and again pretended to be asleep. He felt someone sit down next to him and after a few minutes opened his eyes.

"How much of that were you awake for?" The Doctor asked, his voice soft.

"All of it," David admitted, "what gave me away?"

"The change in your breathing," The Doctor shrugged, "it'd be best if you could just forget what you heard."

"Unless you plan to wipe out my memory I don't think that's remotely possible," David protested sitting up, "how about telling me what the hell is going on?"

"I can't, I wish I could, but I can't."

"Can't or won't?" David shot back.

The Doctor hesitated a moment, "both, really."

The Doctor rose from the bed, "I am going to leave it up to you. If you think you can handle living with this mystery without driving yourself mad I'm willing to let this slide. But the offer is there to make those memories go away."

"Who is Violet to me?" David asked, rising to his feet.

The Doctor walked out into the hallway without answering him, so David caught up and stood in front of him blocking his way, "don't you think I deserve an answer?"

"Yes, you do," The Doctor nodded, his voice sad, "but even if it were a good idea to tell you, I shouldn't be the one to do it." With that he gently shifted David out of his way and walked down the corridor in silence.  
\---

By the time The Doctor had reached the console room The Master had managed to free himself and tossed the cuffs at the other Time Lord's head. The Doctor caught them neatly with one hand and absently stuck them in his pocket.

"I told you I could get out of those!" The Master chortled, with a triumphant smile.

"I fully expected you to. It wasn't like they were dead locked or anything," The Doctor replied, clearly his mind on something else. With a deft motion he pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, aimed it all the collar on The Master's neck activating it. Then he walked over to the monitor on the TARDIS' console and bracing his hands on either side of it, leaned forward.

The Master's smile slipped, and he joined The Doctor at the monitor, "what's going on? Are we still being followed?" When he go no response he looked at the monitor himself, "I don't see anything, what's wrong?"

"I swear this latest regeneration of yours is the most infuriating yet, are you deaf or just stupid?" The Master tapped The Doctor on the top of the head, "are you in there?"

"Hmm?" 

"I asked what you were moping about for, but now I'm not sure I even care to know," The Master sneered.

"Good," The Doctor replied, and started to leave the console room. This time The Master stubbornly waited for the collar to beep before following him.  
\-------

The Doctor found Violet in her old room, she was sitting in the rocking chair holding one of the stuffed bears she had picked up on their travels like it was a baby. She was slowly rocking and singing a lullaby softly to her self.

"We're almost there," The Doctor spoke after a few minutes.

"I know," Violet stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes, "guess I'd better say my goodbyes now."

Just as they exited the room, they found David wander the halls, "oh thank god, I thought I was never going to find my way" he laughed with relief, "do you get a piece of cheese if you make it back successfully?"

Then seeing Violet's tear streaked face, he went silent, "there's so much I want to ask you.." he started, but just then the TARDIS landed with a shudder.

The Doctor hopped from one foot to the other anxiously, "we don't have a lot of time, I'm sorry but this is world gives off totally the wrong sort of energy and if we stay here too long the TARDIS' will be drained and we'll all be stuck here."

Violet turned on The Master, "you do anything to hurt my two favourite men and I'll kick your ass, again. You got that bud?" 

The Master didn't even acknowledge her.

Then she turned to The Doctor, gave him a hug, "will I ever see you again?"

"Every time I say you won't, you prove me wrong, so let's just say, maybe." He gave her a half sad smile and hugged her tightly to him, "thank you, for everything."

When she reached David she took a deep breath, then stood totally still for a moment seemingly rooted to the spot. Then she thrust the stuffed bear into David's hands, pulled him into a massive hug and kissed him lightly on the cheek, "never forget me!" she pleaded. 

She nodded to herself and turned to leave. She turned back briefly to take one last look at David before she headed down the ramp and out the TARDIS doors without another word.

Violet got to about a metre from the TARDIS when she heard the distinct sound of it taking off and willed herself not to turn around to watch it leave. Just over the hill in the car park she found her vehicle still waiting for her. She climbed in and started the car up and headed home.

By the time Violet reached her house it was quite late, all the lights were out, so she made her way in the dark to her room. As she climbed into bed she slid her arms around the other occupant of the bed. Her touch woke him, and he rolled over on his back, pulled her into his arms, kiss her lightly on the lips "welcome home" he said sleepily.


	15. Chapter 15

As the TARDIS took off The Doctor turned to David, "time to get you home."

David nodded in agreement silently, then looking down he realised he had left his shoes in the guest room, so he headed back up the ramp to retrieve them.

The Master watched David leave, waiting until he was out of sight to pounce on The Doctor standing right in front of him, blocking his wanderings around the console. "I love a good mystery," he chortled, "now that I have some more of the puzzle I'm ready to unravel this one."

The Doctor looked at him wearily, "you just don't know when to stop, do you?"

"It's one of the things you love about me," The Master continued, ignoring the eye roll this statement was met with, "there's been something about that human that's set my teeth on edge since I met him, or since I became aware of him, thanks to your silly little tricks."

"I'm asking you properly, just stop," The Doctor interrupted.

As if the other Time Lord had never spoken The Master pressed on, "he's obviously more than he seems and more than he knows. The stench of your average human is somehow different, diluted perhaps? He's mixed with something else, am I right?"

The Doctor moved away from The Master pretending to be concentrating on something on the console, but The Master could sense he was getting to him.

"You didn't do something untowards with one of you pets did you?" The Master laughed.

"I'm not discussing this with you," The Doctor shot back.

"No, of course you wouldn't, not you! Not 'Mr. Morality' himself. Strike that," The Master hummed to himself in thought, "that silly human female you just dropped off like an unwanted puppy sure had something for him."

"She figures into this," The Master tapped his fingers on his forehead, "she wasn't all doe eyed for him like you seem to inspire in human females. How does she figure into this?"  
"Is she the human you gave to that meta-crisis abomination?" The Master paused in his ramblings to note that The Doctor was gripping his fingers so tightly on the back of the jump seat that his knuckles were almost white.

"That's the key!" he announced triumphantly, running over to The Doctor and spinning him around to face him, "I know who he is now!"

Unknown to either of the Time Lords, David had been listening to their conversation from the ramp just above their heads, "who am I?" 

The Master's smile faded, "you know it's impolite to eavesdrop," he cast his eyes to The Doctor, noting the colour had drained from the other Time Lord's face.

"It's also impolite to gossip," David shot back, "so we're even." 

David walked down the ramp and stood next to The Doctor, "we need to talk, alone."

The Master pushed between them, "sorry old chum, wither he goest so doth I."

The Doctor reached over and flipped a switch on the collar around The Master's neck, "not this time," he stated as the other Time Lord froze in place.

"What did you just do?" David asked his eyes wide with amazement.

"He's in stasis," The Doctor shrugged. "You're right, we need to talk and alone would be best." With that he put his arm around David's shoulders leading him out of the console room.

Nothing was said until they reached a sitting room, there was an old fashion fireplace set in one wall that had a blazing fire already going. The Doctor took a seat in one of the wing chairs, David took the seat opposite.

They sat quietly for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. The Doctor finally broke the silence, "you've known, since you were a child that you were different, haven't you?"

"Don't most people think that?" David responded.

"But in your case, you are. You have a very special heritage, I can't really go into the details, I really wish I could, but I can't. But I can say that you were and are justified in the belief that you are different, you are unique and some part of you has always known that."

"Why can't you tell me?" David pleaded.

"A variety of reasons, the most important one is; it's for your own safety. If it were to get out, you would be in great danger," The Doctor leaned forward, his eyes locked on David's face, "another reason is, that I promised someone very special to me that I wouldn't and I don't break my promises."

"So you've known this all along?"

The Doctor smiled, "actually, no, which is pretty impressive when you think about it, but it didn't take me long to figure it out."

David sat back with a groan, "so now what?"

"Now, I take you back to Earth, and you get on with your life," The Doctor replied.

"How am I supposed to do that with all these unanswered questions hanging over me?"

The Doctor reached out to place his hands on David's temples, "I could always..."

David knocked his hands away and stood up, "no! You said it yourself if you wipe my memories again I'm going to be left vulnerable. You can't just come into my life, whisk me away then make it all disappear again."

The Doctor stood up too, "you're right, of course. If I had known who you were from the beginning I wouldn't have, but I can't undo that. I can make you forget me."

That triggered in David's mind Violet's last words to him, "that's not what I meant."

The two men stared at each other, until David took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down, "I will find out."

The Doctor smiled sadly, "I know. And when you do I promise to be there to help you, but until then you'll have to just do this on your own."

Their conversation was interrupted by the bump that signalled the TARDIS had landed.

David walked to the door of the sitting room, "if you need me, you know where to find me."

The Doctor nodded, "I have the feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

Walking down the ramp to the console room David gestured at the still form of The Master, "isn't it tempting to just leave him like that?"

The Doctor laughed, "frequently."

David smiled, "I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Indeed," The Doctor grinned, then growing serious, "before you go, one last thing..."

The Doctor reached into his pocket and handed David a thin silver chain, with a key dangling from it, "this is for you, you are welcome any time."

As David stepped out of the TARDIS and onto the street in front of his house, he waved at The Doctor, "until next time!"

The Doctor waved back and closed the door, as David slipped the chain around his neck and felt in his pockets for the keys to his house.

\---------  
As dawn broke Violet woke to find she was alone in the bed, she wondered if she had dreamt it all. Had she really seen him after all this time? Or had her want, her yearning make her temporarily hallucinate it all? She closed her eyes trying to recall the warmth of David's body as she laid against him, had that been real? 

She hugged the pillow to her chest trying, unsuccessfully, to hold back the tears.


End file.
